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Street Life

Pavements thronging, traffic pressed nose to bumper (or tail): these astonishing films show Edwardian streets buzzing with life.

'Street scenes' were a staple of early filmmaking, and Mitchell & Kenyon's are particularly stunning, revealing in sharp detail how our ancestors behaved, dressed and moved in public, as well as how their towns and cities were organised. 

These streets throng with human and other traffic. Motor cars were still a rarity, but the tide of vehicles never let up: horse-drawn carts, bicycles, omnibuses and trams (some of them electrified). They may miss the sounds and smells of the city, but these extraordinary images evoke a rapidly changing society: an urbanised, increasingly mobile, consumer Britain not so very different from our own.

23 videos in this collection

Young lads are out in force on the crowded streets in Edwardian Lancashire.

Darwen Street Scenes (1901)

  • Darwen
  • 1901
Views of St Patrick's Street and Grand Parade in Cork, awash with people and traffic.

Views of the Grand Parade, Cork (1902)

  • 1902
Many views of busy, bustling Halifax, including a handsome, horse-drawn steam fire engine.

Street Scenes in Halifax (1902)

  • Halifax
  • 1902
A rare glimpse of early Edwardian Manchester when the horse-drawn tram still reigned supreme.

Manchester Street Scenes (1901)

  • Manchester
  • 1901
A flood of pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic in Edwardian Glasgow.

Jamaica Street Glasgow (1901)

  • Glasgow
  • 1901
Lively scenes in Edwardian Cumbria.

Whitehaven Street Scenes (c.1902)

  • Whitehaven
  • 1902
Traffic and pedestrians - including an early motor car - in Edwardian Liverpool.

Liverpool Street Scenes (1901)

  • Liverpool
  • 1901
A striking panorama of the Peak District town and its magnificent Georgian Crescent.

Buxton Skyline (1901)

  • Buxton
  • 1901
The cheerful hustle and bustle of a crowded market in Edwardian Preston.

Preston Monday Market (1906)

  • Preston
  • 1906
A melee of traffic, carts, trams, bicycles and people of all ages squeeze past the camera in Victorian Hull.

Scenes at Monument Bridge in Hull (1900)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1900
A street scene in Edwardian Hull is dominated by advertising for an event to celebrate returning soldiers from the Boer War.

Scenes in Hull (1901)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1901
A well dressed crowd emerges from an unknown building and engages with the camera.

Scenes of Carlisle (1901)

  • Carlisle
  • 1901
Boisterous Edwardian lads jostle for a place in front of the camera in the West Midlands town.

Comic Pictures in High Street, West Bromwich (1902)

  • West Bromwich
  • 1902
The aftermath of an accident on the streets of Edwardian Sheffield.

Sheffield Street Accident (1902)

  • Sheffield
  • 1902
A richly detailed snapshot of Edwardian street life in the West Yorkshire town.

Mayor Entering His Carriage Near the Town Hall, Halifax (1902)

  • Halifax
  • 1902
Pedestrians and bus passengers watch a procession through Edwardian Halifax.

Views of Halifax (c.1905)

  • Halifax
  • 1905
A visit to Edwardian Cork captures the docks on an unusually quiet Sunday.

Albert Quay in Cork (1902)

  • 1902
Edwardian laceworkers hasten home at dinner time.

Workpeople and Girls on Stoney Street, Nottingham (1900)

  • Nottingham
  • 1900
A mysterious but vivid snapshot of Edwardian life.

Street Scenes in North of England (c.1902)

  • 1902
Irish street scenes and landmarks at College Green in Edwardian Dublin.

Panorama of College Green, Dublin (1902)

  • 1902
Aspects of the Lancashire market town, with policemen, small girls, dogs and passers-by.

Scenes of Ashton under Lyne (1901)

  • Ashton-Under-Lyne
  • 1901
A glimpse of life on the streets of Edwardian Preston.

Preston Street Scenes (1904)

  • Preston
  • 1904
Street life in a busy shopping area in Wexford.

Life in Wexford (1902)

  • 1902